In the Soviet Union, soldiers and officers convicted of cowardice or/and common crimes were sent (forced to go) to penal units. So, shtrafbats became the prison replacement for these categories of people. There was also a possibility to achieve amnesty through outstanding military service, though no amnesty was guaranteed.
I have no information about amnesty for Nazi soldiers.

@jwenting I assume it's an answer for Anixx's comment. I have to say that I agree that regime in penal units was extremely harsh and mortality rate (is it a suitable term?) was very high. But considering shtrafbats, I found references in support of amnesty for hospitalized soldiers. I don't have any statistic on number of such occasions, though (at least one example from quick google search). Also, "wounded" and "turning back in hopeless situations" are different categories.
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default localeMar 4 '13 at 15:01

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@jwenting is there a citation for the "no medic, go on even if you're bleeding to death"?
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LohorisJan 6 '14 at 16:46

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@Michael, well, I just pointed to the document that guarantees amnesty for wounded soldiers. I've never heard anything about "10 dangerous missions". Would you be so kind to provide references for this part?
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default localeJan 6 '14 at 21:40

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@defaultlocale: I couldn't locate the link in a few min, and now have to go. Maybe you have a better luck, if you are interested. It make have been from Solzhenitsin, or from another author who collected prisoners' stories of those times. There were basically two story lines told by many 1st hand witnesses: the promise of amnesty for 10 missions as the rear Il-2 gunner (unprotected, 8x death rate compared with Il-2 pilots), and the promise of amnesty for 10 mine field clearing missions. About amnesty for being wounded: the 1st time I've heard about that is your question.
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MichaelJan 6 '14 at 22:23

the Confederacy during the US civil war did the same thing.
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jwentingMar 4 '13 at 13:59

The Union did the same with Confederate prisoners but only to fight Indians.
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ExpatEggheadJan 7 '14 at 12:08

@ExpatEgghead During or after the Civil War?
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Felix GoldbergJan 7 '14 at 19:16

During as far as I know. The best source I have is the book'Gone With The Wind' and the character George Ashley Wilkes who had this offer made to him and refused thus keeping him in Rock Island Arsenal.
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ExpatEggheadJan 8 '14 at 9:27

The purpose of the Foreign Legion was to remove disruptive elements from society and put them to use fighting the enemies of France. Recruits included failed revolutionaries from the rest of Europe, soldiers from the disbanded Swiss and German mercenary regiments of the Bourbon monarchy, and troublemakers in general, both foreign and French.

yes, but they weren't convicts (unless an escaped prisoner were to apply, in which case the Legion Estranger will not care, they don't ask for your history or even proof of identity on enlistment, or didn't use to, it may have changed).
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jwentingMar 5 '13 at 11:12

@jwenting "Etrangere" in French. And you are correct, today they go as far as checking with your home country and interpol that you aren't wanted. Also things have changed in general, while they welcome tough people from rough places, things like a past of drug use/dealing, violent assault etc automatically disqualify you today.
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JuicyApr 26 '14 at 21:39

"Prisoners" fall into two categories. The first is military men court-martialed for cowardice, or other offenses, that are given a chance to redeem themselves. The second is criminals sent to war.

The first kind of prisoners were quite common particularly in totalitarian societies such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union (e.g. in World War II).

The second type was less common, but used from time to time. By definition, criminals are aggressive people suited to fighting, and who need a chance to redeem themselves.

Sometimes the "amnesty" was offered before the criminals were caught. The British (and other countries) did this in the 17th and 18th century with pirates. Provided that they agreed not to attack ships of their own country, such people were given letters of pardon that immunized them from punishment for attacking the ships of OTHER countries. That process turned "pirates" into "privateers."

+1 for categorization. But criminals are aggressive people suited to war line sounds weird for me. Regular army assumes discipline and organization. I think personal aggressiveness is a negative factor here.
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default localeSep 21 '12 at 13:43

I believe the British Navy in the early 1800's was comprised of some men who were convicts, not sure about the land armies under Wellington but I recall some historical novels that often referred to men who might have gone to jail but went to serve.
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MichaelFSep 21 '12 at 17:01

How number of court-materialed soldiers corresponds to totalitarity of state? I think it only corresponds to the magnitude of hostilities. -1
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AnixxSep 23 '12 at 3:39

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Concur that criminals are not by definition aggressive people suited to war. None of the clauses in that sentence are defensible. War demands disciple more than aggression, and "criminal" can include people whose behavior or opinions differ from that of the local government. (Are Nelson Mandela, Ghandi or Martin Luther King intrinsically excellent warriors merely because they were convicted?). Nor do they automatically need redemption. Rest of the answer is excellent.
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Mark C. WallaceOct 15 '12 at 14:08

+1, default locale, you can see a good example how it worked at "The Dirty Dozen" movie. :)
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Darek WędrychowskiMar 4 '13 at 12:33

I know it has been common practice in the USA in the past to send convicted criminals to serve in the military in time of war in lieu of jail or some other kind of community service.

During the unit self-intro bit at the beginning of Stripes, I believe at least one recruit had been sent by a judge. That is high fiction of course, but I know of a least one reference in non-fiction: In the opening chapters of Hill 488 Ray Hildreth relates being given a choice of jail or military service after some "youthful indiscretions"

This is cheifly something that was done back when there was a draft (and thus men of fighting age would have been at a premium), not something done today with the USA's all-volunteer armed forces. So the reference in Stripes was probably an anachronisim. Today the USA armed forces generally do not even accept convicted (violent) felons.

BTW: Hill 488 is a whale of a read. Sort of like Rorke's Drift in Vietnam.
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T.E.D.♦Sep 21 '12 at 14:08

I don't know how common it is or was in the US, but I remember during MEPS being asked a question along the lines of: Did a judge order you to join the service? I want to say it was on one of the forms I had to fill out but it could have just been something I was asked. It made me think that joining the service instead of being sentenced for a crime is/was fairly common at one point in time.
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stojOct 14 '12 at 3:52

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they were not prisoners. For specific non-violent crimes people'd be offered the choice of prison or enlistment in the armed forces.
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jwentingMar 4 '13 at 13:58

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@T.E.D. The wiki page alone is good. The statement of SGT Howard about LCpl Bins which was used for his MoH had me rapt.
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CGCampbellJun 27 '14 at 15:09

The British army has sent convicts to war, perhaps most notably during the time of Wellington and the Peninsular War. Convicted criminals could choose between prison/execution or joining the army. An army of such men lead Wellington to describe them as "The scum of the earth" after the looting that occurred following the battle of Vitoria.

During World War II, the Germans captured quite a number of Soviet troops who were from the far eastern, Asiatic regions of the Soviet Union. The Germans pressed some of these Soviet Asiatic prisoners into service in the German Army, particularly to fill out low-quality static, positional defense units. The Allies captured some of these troops in Normandy in 1944. There is an amazing but true story of a Korean man who was forced to serve in the Japanese Army. He was captured during one of the Soviet vs. Japanese fights that took place shortly prior to World War II breaking out globally. The Soviets offered him the opportunity to serve in the Soviet Army and he took it. Later, he was captured by the Germans and forced to serve in the German Army until he was taken prisoner by the Western Allies.